But baby Paris was found by shepherds, who took up the task of raising him. While he was under their care, three goddesses, Aphrodite, Athene and Hera approached young Paris, commanding him to decide who was most beautiful of the three.

This was in reaction to the gauntlet thrown down by Eris, when she cast a golden apple among the three
goddesses. She advised them that the most beautiful could claim the prize. Each thinking herself worthy of the prize, the three were referred by Zeus to Paris. Each promised him something wonderful:
Athene vowed that he should have immortal fame as a hero.
Hera promised him the throne of Asia.
Aphrodite said that she would obtain for him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife.

After much thought, Paris decided in favour of Aphrodite, and in so doing drew the bitter enmity of the two losers upon himself and his country.

At that time, it happened that oxen were required for a sacrifice being offered in Troy, and so two sons of King Priam, Hector and Helenos, came to Mount Ida, and took one of the herd watched over by Paris. Unwilling let them take the oxen, Paris followed the princes back to Troy, intending to demand restoration of his cattle. A quarrel ensued on the way, and the princes nearly killed Paris. But then Cassandra appeared and revealed the
story of Paris' birth, and with great rejoicing the three returned to Troy, where Paris took his place as a son of King Priam, and a prince of the city. Aphrodite commanded Paris to set sail for Sparta, where Paris met the woman whom the goddess had promised would be his wife, the most beautiful woman on earth. This was Helen, wife of
Menalaus. The two developed a friendship that later turned into love, and when the opportunity to elope presented itself, Paris and Helen fled Sparta and returned to Troy, where they were married.

Menalaus was not going to take this lying down, and so commanded those who had sworn an oath to aid him now to take up arms against Troy and sail to the city to rescue Helen. Thus began the nine-year Trojan War, in which many died.

During this war Paris distinguished himself by killing the Greek hero Achilles, but was in the end himself slain by
Odysseus, with the arrows of Hercules.

Also an Oakland-based rapper. Has five albums (as of 2004): The Devil Made Me Do It, Sleeping With The Enemy, Guerrilla Funk, Unleashed, and Sonic Jihad.

Paris is known from his militant thoughts, and he hasn't gotten much airplay, and is IMHO one of the most talented - but not widely known - rap artists. His biggest "hits" probably are Break the Grip of Shame, from The Devil Made Me Do It album, and Bush Killa from Sleeping with the Enemy.

And only when the measures cease and terminate the flowing dance
They waken from their magic trance and join the cries that clamor "Bis!"...

Midnight adjourns the festival. The couples climb the crowded stair,
And out into the warm night air go singing fragments of the ball.

Close-folded in desire they pass, or stop to drink and talk awhile
In the cafes along the mile from Bullier's back to Montparnasse:

The "Closerie" or "La Rotonde", where smoking, under lamplit trees,
Sit Art's enamored devotees, chatting across their `brune' and `blonde'...

Make one of them and come to know sweet Paris -- not as many do,
Seeing but the folly of the few, the froth, the tinsel, and the show --

But taking some white proffered hand that from Earth's barren every day
Can lead you by the shortest way into Love's floridfairyland.

And that divine enchanted life that lurks under Life's common guise --
That city of romance that lies within the City's toil and strife --

Shall, knocking, open to your hands, for Love is all its golden key,
And one's name murmured tenderly the only magic it demands.

And when all else is gray and void in the vast gulf of memory,
Green islands of delight shall be all blessed moments so enjoyed:

When vaulted with the city skies, on its cathedral floors you stood,
And, priest of a bright brotherhood, performed the mysticsacrifice,

At Love's high altar fit to stand, with fire and incense aureoled,
The celebrant in cloth of gold with Spring and Youth on either hand.

III

Choral Song

Have ye gazed on its grandeur
Or stood where it stands
With opal and amber
Adorning the lands,
And orcharded domes
Of the hue of all flowers?
Sweet melody roams
Through its blossoming bowers,
Sweet bells usher in from its belfries the train of the honey-sweet hour.

A city resplendent,
Fulfilled of good things,
On its ramparts are pendent
The bucklers of kings.
Broad banners unfurled
Are afloat in its air.
The lords of the world
Look for harborage there.
None finds save he comes as a bridegroom, having roses and vine in his hair.

'Tis the city of Lovers,
There many paths meet.
Blessed he above others,
With faltering feet,
Who past its proud spires
Intends not nor hears
The noise of its lyres
Grow faint in his ears!
Men reach it through portals of triumph, but leave through a postern of tears.

It was thither, ambitious,
We came for Youth's right,
When our lips yearned for kisses
As moths for the light,
When our souls cried for Love
As for life-giving rain
Wan leaves of the grove,
Withered grass of the plain,
And our flesh ached for Love-flesh beside it with bitter, intolerable pain.

Under arbor and trellis,
Full of flutes, full of flowers,
What mad fortunes befell us,
What glad orgies were ours!
In the days of our youth,
In our festalattire,
When the sweet flesh was smooth,
When the swift blood was fire,
And all Earth paid in orange and purple to pavilion the bed of Desire!

On Sunday, April 29, 2001, at 6:45 p.m, a UFO
squadron passed over New Paris, Illinois. Thomas H. reports:
They looked like birds, and they flew from side to side but without
turning. The objects were black and disc-shaped, and their estimated speed
was 90 miles per hour.

Paris, Missouri, was settled in the middle of 19th
century. Known as The Friendliest Town in Little Dixie by
everybody who lives less than 3 miles away, Paris is a 1,500-people town
and the county seat of Monroe County, but the main attraction in the
county, and therefore in the world, is the two-room cabin where Mark Twain was
born. Population of Paris was 1,486 in 1990.

New Paris, Ohio, was first settled by a man named
Richard Hudson in 1811, and became a town in 1820. Its first name was
Storrsboro. It's located in Preble County, 27 miles from Dayton,
Ohio. The population was 1,990 in 1998.

Paris, Texas, apart from being a movie, is also
the Second Largest Paris in the World, with no less than
25,898 happy citizens. It's located in Lamar County, some 105 miles
northeast of Dallas. Paris was founded by George Wright, who opened a store
there in 1839. Several traditions explain in different ways why Paris was
called Paris, but one thing is certain: it was a reference to Paris,
France. Paris became the county seat in 1844. And the city has seven
hotels or motels with a total of 528 rooms.

The old proverb that all good Americans go to Paris to die is really just a rather morbid way of acknowledging that it is the ultimate--though with any luck not that ultimate--city. In Paris more than in any other city in the world, with the possible exception of New York, myth and realityinterweave to create a heady sensation of excitement and déjà vu, where the familiar Paris of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre is temporarily forgotten by the visitor's sudden and often surprising discovery of another, private Paris. Whether it is found in a seemingly forgotten cul-de-sac in an off-the-beaten-track corner of the 14th arrondissement, or in an ancient shop on the slope of Montmartre selling antique clocks, this is the real Paris of which memories are made.Forbes.com

Paris became capital of the north western part of the Roman Empire in the third century AD, which caused the city to grow in size and significance. Many Roman leftovers from this period are to be found in Quartier Latin. (This obviously means Latin District, but it was not named after this era: it later became the University centre and therefore contained many Latin speaking students). During the decline of the Roman Empire, 700,000 barbarians under Atilla the Hun threatened to take the city in 451. A young girl named Genevieve convinced the Parisians not to flee but to pray all together to save Paris. When the barbarians indeed passed by without entering the city, Genevieve became Paris’ patron saint.

After the powerful Franks, the Vikings sent a fleet of 700 ships with 30,000 warriors to Paris in 885. Still, the Parisians managed to defend their city. A city wall was built in 1200, with the Louvre castle being the closing part. This citadel had to guard the weakest spot in the city defence, also the location were the Vikings had focused their beleaguering. It was also in this period that the islands in the Seine started to get very crowded, so people moved to the riverside. The narrow streets (for example near the Notre Dame) on the islands are a clear witness of this early epoch. Paris became an important centre of philosophy and theology when the oldest university, Sorbonne (named after priest Robert de Sorbon), was founded in 1253.

From 1370 to 1382, King Charles V let build a fortress called the Bastille to live safely from possible rioters. The Bastille was hated thoroughly, partly because Charles V ordered to arrest random men in the street to have them carry stones for the bastion. Consequently it was a quite simple effort to destruct the hated symbol of royal oppression in 1789.

In the west of Paris, the 50m high Arc de Triomphe towers above the surrounding streets (including the famous Champs Elysées). Napoléon had the triumph arch built to honour his own military successes. This is why the names of some of his generals and his victories are inscribed in the arch. France buried its Unknown Soldier from World War I beneath the Arc de Triomphe, and keeps a flame burning permanently over the grave.

The biggest religious attraction in Paris is the Notre Damecathedral. With its 150m length and 69m height, it is one of the largest gothicbasilicas in the world, especially if you realise that the construction of the towers was never finished. The construction started in 1163 and lasted over a century.